The Harrying of the Dragonspawn
Following the initial devastation of the defending Royal Baratheon forces outside King's Landing by Maekar Targaryen, the arrival of Alyn Baratheon with a force of Stormlander knights turned the tide of the battle. Maekar was fully and completely surrounded, with no hope of escape. He made one last desperate push to punch a hole in the Crown’s army, when Maekar rallied his men to punch through the Stormlander lines Alyn Baratheon spots the Targaryens gambit. Alyn hurriedly rallies the men of his bodyguard and what knights he could spare and rushes headlong into the Targaryen’s path. With a great roar of defiance Maekar Targaryen raised his sword and pointed it at the stag lord. “A Lordship to whomever brings down that damned stag’s head!” Maekar and his men desperately threw themselves at Alyn and his men, cutting down many. Maekar had almost cut his way through when he came upon Alyn Baratheon. The Lord of Storm’s End was covered in blood and had a minor wound to his side. With only one antler remaining on his Lordly helm Alyn Baratheon looked spent and Maekar thought the Dragon would have an easy time ending the Stag’s life. However Alyn was a Baratheon and Baratheons didn’t go down that easily. Lesser men would’ve fallen beneath Maekar’s blade, not the line that had given Westeros warriors such as Orys and Robert Baratheon. Alyn summoned the rest of his strength and with a great howl of fury he spurred his destrier and threw himself at the Targaryen. Their battle was fierce and long and they both took multiple wounds from each other. In the end, however, Maekar’s sword got stuck in Alyn’s shield and Alyn, summoning his remaining strength brought his warhammer down and spiked the Targaryen where neck and shoulder met. The spike of his warhammer punched through the Targaryen’s plate armor mortally wounding Maekar. Maekar fought on to his last breath and was killed when Alyn brought the hammer down and smashed his helm. Maekar Targaryen fell from his horse, dead. Seeing their leader fall, Maekar’s men broke or surrendered. Those foolish enough to run north were brutally run down, with no mercy given by the now combined armies of the Stormlands, Crownlands, and Westerlands. The slaughter later became known as the ‘Harrying of the Dragonspawn’. Following the Battle of King’s Landing, the remaining Crown forces consolidated their strength and took stock of their men. Lord Alyn and the newly knighted Prince Beron Baratheon, along with Lord Lyonel Lannister brought their strength together and prepared to march north to Maidenpool with a massive army at their backs. At the same time, the combined army of the Riverlands, the Frostborn, and the Vale, slowly rout Aelyx’s forces from the Riverlands and march his army back towards Maidenpool. He attempts to return to Riverrun, but finds that Waltyr Tully has barred his gates and taken up cause with the rebels. Sacking the castle would waste precious time, to Aelyx ignobly retreats from the Riverlands, vowing to one day repay all those who betrayed him. Category:Battles Category:Third Targaryen Rebellion